CHENNAI – England pipped West Indies by 18 runs in a thrilling Group B match on Thursday to stay in the hunt for a place in the quarter-finals of the World Cup. Defending a 243-run total, James Tredwell (4-48), Ravi Bopara (2-22) and Graeme Swann (3-36) came out with a lion-hearted effort to bowl out West Indies for 225 in 44.4 overs.
For the Caribbean team, Chris Gayle (43), Darren Sammy (41) and Andre Russell (49) shone with the bat but it was not enough in the end. Earlier, the English top order was guilty of squandering promising starts and not a single batsman scored a half-century against a West Indies attack, spearheaded by pace bowler Russell (4-49) and debutant leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo (3-34), which bowled them out in 48.4 overs.
Andrew Strauss (31) and Matt Prior (21) fell before their opening stand could really blossom and even though Jonathan Trott (47) and Luke Wright (44) down the order got the starts, none could hang around until the final overs. England, however, would require outcome of other Group B matches to go their way before they can make it to the last eight stage.
Opting to bat first, England’s decision to persist with Prior as opener nearly paid off but Russell removed both the openers in quick succession to peg them back. Trott looked in sublime touch, hitting three boundaries off the first five balls he faced from Russell but Bishoo could not be denied a memorable debut in one-day internationals.
Bishoo removed Trott and went on to claim the vital scalp of Eoin Morgan, whose improvisation and ability to score briskly make him such a dangerous batsman. Morgan fell trying to play a cheeky reverse sweep. Wright did his best down the order but England kept losing wickets at regular intervals and eventually collapsed with eight balls to spare. West Indies’ chase got off to a rollicking start with Gayle wasting precious little time to assert himself.
Gayle hit Tim Bresnan for four boundaries in the third over, prompting Strauss to replace the bowler with Chris Tremlett who was also promptly taken off attack after the West Indian batsman hit him for three fours and a six in his first over.
